Definitions for yellowbill

Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word yellowbill.

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yellowbill(Noun)

Ceuthmochares aereus, an African cuckoo with a heavy yellow bill.

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Yellowbill(noun)

the American scoter

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Yellowbill

The Yellowbill is a species of cuckoo in the Cuculidae family. The species is sometimes known as the Green Malkoha. It is monotypic within the genus Ceuthmochares. There are three subspecies that display some differences in plumage colouration; all subspecies have a greyish belly, head and throat but C. aereus aereus has a greenish and blue tail, wings and back, C. aereus australis has a green tail, wings and back and C. aereus flavirostris has a blue tail, wings and back. All subspecies have a heavy yellow bill which gives the species its name. The species has sometimes been split into two species, a western species the Chattering Yellowbill or Blue Malkoha C. aereus and the eastern species Whistling Yellowbill or Green Malkoha, C. australis.
It has a widespread distribution across the tropical evergreen forests of Africa, including West and Central Africa, and the down the coast of Eastern Africa from Kenya to South Africa. It ranges from dense forest to riverine forest and forest edges, with one small population in Ethiopia living in arid bushland. In the forest it typically lives in the subcanopy at between 8–30 m.
The Yellowbill feeds primarily on insects, particularly caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers and crickets; it will also take frogs, slugs, fruit, seeds and leaves. It moves through the tangled vegetation with a series of small hops, snatching prey as it travels. It will accompany other birds and squirrels, taking the insects flushed by them.